


I'll Be By Your Side (I'll Take Your Hand)

by FireMane15



Category: Titans (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, Post-Season/Series 02, takes place immediately after season 2 finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:27:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29509686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireMane15/pseuds/FireMane15
Summary: He and Kory sit in silence for a few moments.He can feel himself start to relax, and it’s not just the alcohol coursing through his body. It’sKory. With the others, he has to be “Leader of the Titans.” He’s responsible for them, he has to take care of them, just as Bruce said. But for some reason, around Kory, he just feels like he can just be himself. Not Dick Grayson, Leader of the Titans, just...Dick. He doesn’t know why this is the case, but what he does know is that it feels so fucking nice.Dick doesn’t let the silence last for long. He has a pressing question that heneedsto ask. And he guesses the best way to ask is to just come out with it./Dick tries to connect with Kory the night after Donna's funeral.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Koriand'r
Comments: 6
Kudos: 45





	I'll Be By Your Side (I'll Take Your Hand)

He needs to know. 

It’s what he’s thinking about as he returns with the team to the loft after dealing with the situation in the Mission District.

It’s what he’s thinking about as takes off his Nightwing suit and changes into sweatpants and a t-shirt.

It’s what he’s thinking about as he goes in search of Kory.

He needs to know.

He needs to know whether she’s actually part of the team.

He remembers how pleased he was when he saw her get up from the table and leave with the rest of the team. But he doesn’t know if it was just for tonight, or if it’s permanent. 

Fuck, he really really hopes it's permanent. He doesn't know what he'll do if it's not.

The first place he decides to look for her is in her bedroom.

As luck would have it, he arrives just as she is leaving her room.

“Hey,” he says as he approaches her.

“Hey,” she says back quietly.

He can’t help but notice how tired she looks. Not really physically, more emotionally. He wonders if he looks the same to her. He probably does.

“Have a drink with me?” he asks her softly, gesturing with his head towards the kitchen.

“Sure.”

The ends of her lips quirk up just the tiniest bit. And no, he didn't notice that because he was looking at her lips.

Their walk there is quiet, subdued. There’s still an air of melancholy that hangs over them, and the whole tower really, because of Donna’s death.

They don’t talk. Just walk together, side by side, until they get to the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen, Dick heads over to the top cabinet where the booze is stored. Kory sits at the counter.

He opens up the cabinet, and looks to see what they have. 

No tequila.

“Scotch fine?” he asks her.

“Yeah.”

He takes two glasses and pours the scotch into them. He goes and sits on the stool right next to her, handing her the scotch.

They clink glasses.

“Cheers.”

“Cheers.”

Dick takes a sip, and feels the welcome burn of the alcohol as it goes down his throat.

He and Kory sit in silence for a few moments.

He can feel himself start to relax, and it’s not just the alcohol coursing through his body. It’s _Kory_. With the others, he has to be “Leader of the Titans.” He’s responsible for them, he has to take care of them, just as Bruce said. But for some reason, around Kory, he just feels like he can just be himself. Not Dick Grayson, Leader of the Titans, just...Dick. He doesn’t know why this is the case, but what he does know is that it feels so fucking nice.

Dick doesn’t let the silence last for long. He has a pressing question that he _needs_ to ask. And he guesses the best way to ask is to just come out with it.

“Are you officially joining the team?”

He’s too fucking tired to pretend to downplay how much the answer matters to him. Too fucking tired to keep the hope and anxiety out of his voice.

She turns to look at him. She thinks for a few moments.

“Yeah...Yeah, I guess I am.”

She gives him a small smile, but he can detect some sadness lurking beneath it.

He gives her a small smile in return.

“I’m glad to hear that. It feels...”  
_Right._

_Like there was something missing before you._

_Like you belong with us._

“Like it’s how it should be,” he tells her.

The small smile falls off her face. 

His eyes examine her face, trying to figure out where he misstepped. She gulps slightly before taking another sip of her scotch. He notices her hands seem a bit unsteady as she does so.

“Is everything okay?” he asks her.

He immediately realizes it’s a stupid fucking question. They attended Donna’s funeral today. Of course, she’s not okay. He’s not okay.

“Sorry, that was a stupid question. Obviously, everything’s not okay.”

She makes a noise of assent, staring into her drink.

“You mentioned something about a loose end before...”

Kory turns to look at him and nods cautiously.

“Is it all taken care of or...?” he asks her.

_Is something going to take you away from us? from me?_

_Did something happen?_

A haunted look enters her eyes for a few seconds before she does away with it.

But he notices .

So, something did happen. Something important.

“Yeah, all taken care of,” she tells him, voice flat in a way that is so unlike Kory.

He’s expecting her to say more, to explain what the loose end was and what was going on with her. But she doesn’t. So he does.

“I was kind of consumed by Deathstroke before, but I know you had things going on too. I should have asked you about it before. I was just so stuck in my own head and my own issues...”

He shakes his head at himself.

“But... I’m asking you now,” he tells her.

He looks her right in the eyes, imploring her to open up to him.

She looks back at him, and he can see that she’s searching his face for something. But he doesn’t know for what.

After a few moments of scrutiny, her gaze turns soft, and she looks at him with sympathetic eyes.

Then, she looks away. She looks ahead, not looking at him.

“It was nothing important. Just...ironing out the details of me staying here,” she says, still not looking at him.

He knows she’s lying.

Whatever she found in him when she was searching his face caused her to shut down, to decide to keep him out. 

His heart drops at that realization.

What did she find?

She didn’t look disappointed or let down when she looked at him. She looked sympathetic, kind.

Why is she shutting him out?

He thinks about pushing her on it. 

He decides not to. Decides to wait and ask again on another day.

But, he decides to ask her something else.

“Your powers are gone?”

Kory finally turns to look at him.

“I can still fight, even without my powers,” she tells him, eyes narrowing at him.

“I know,” Dick assures her. “That’s not why I’m asking. I’m just asking to know. Do you know why they’re gone? Has this happened before?” 

Kory takes a deep, stuttering breath, and then shakes her head.

“Okay, okay...” he says, his brain working at full speed, trying to figure out how he can help her, how he can get her powers back.

“Well... I think there may be some difficulty finding information about your powers on Earth, but, any thing I can do, any doors I can open, connections I can use, resources I can provide...I will,” he tells her.

“Thank you,” she says sincerely. 

“Maybe...Maybe,” he mind starts racing. “We can trace back everything that happened. Things that happened leading up to you realizing you lost your powers. And maybe, that can give us some clues, help us discern the cause. When did you first notice they weren’t working? What was happening bef-”

“Dick,” Kory cuts it sharply. “Can we not talk about this now?”

She sounds tired, frustrated.

Fuck.

Maybe he shouldn’t have had this talk with her now. Maybe he should have waited. Today had been a long, hard day.

But he just needed to know.

After Don...Donna’s death...

His throat becomes heavy and tight thinking about it.

He takes another sip of scotch to try to soothe it away.

After what happened, he _needed_ to know if he was losing Kory too. And he needed to know as soon as possible.

“Sorry,” Dick tells her. “I should’ve -”

“It’s okay,” Kory interrupts him. “You were just trying to help...I’m just not really in the mood to deal with anything right now.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.”

They both take another sip of their drink.

Kory seems content just to sit in the silence, taking in the comfort of each other’s company. But, Dick just needs to say one more thing.

“I’m here, you know. I know I haven’t been...so great at that in the past. But i’m gonna try to do better.”

A soft, sweet smile starts to form on her lips before she stops it. She seems to withdraw under his intense, heartfelt gaze.

She goes for a playful smile instead.

“Dick Grayson, new and improved?” she asks teasingly.

She’s trying to change the mood of their conversation. From serious to playful.

Should her let her? Go along with it? 

Did what he said get through to her? Does she believe him? Does she know that she can trust him? That she can rely on him?

Fuck, what is going on with her? She’s never been one to shy away from emotional moments, from intimacy. She’s always been one to push for them.

It’s not just Donna. It’s not just her powers. He can tell. He doesn’t know how he can tell. He just can.

It’s the “nothing important” thing she spoke of earlier. And for some reason, she won’t tell him what it is. Won’t let it in.

He doesn’t want to admit it, but it really fucking hurts. Is this how Kory felt all the times he refused to let her in?

He thinks about trying to revert the moment back to something serious, something intimate. But decides not to. Not today.

He’ll let Kory take control and decide the tone of their conversation.

“It was time. The old model needed an upgrade,” he replies with a half smile, matching her tone.

She returns his half smile.

But then, she looks down at her drink and her smile slowly falls.

He wishes more than anything that he knew what was going on inside her head. 

If he can’t get her to open up to him, maybe he can at least make her smile again, distract her.

Dick racks his brain for something witty, something funny, something playful to say. But he can’t think of anything. So he can’t even get her to smile after all.

But suddenly, an idea comes to him.

He may be working his way to new and improved, but the idea still frightens him.

Would it be too much? Would it be welcome? Would it be too intimate?

Would she reject it?

Fuck, it would hurt so much if she rejected it.

He doesn’t know if it’s courage from the alcohol or the overwhelming need to try to do something to help her, but...he does it.

He takes his hand and places it on top of Kory’s. Taking her hand off the glass of scotch, he wraps her hand in his, and places their hands on the counter in front of them.

Her eyes raise to meet his.

_Please don't pull away._

She gulps at his stare. She looks lost and overwhelmed. Small tears pool in the corner of her eyes.

He worries she’s going to pull away.

But she doesn’t. She keeps his stare. She keeps her hand in his.

And then, she lightly squeezes his hand.

As they sit there, in the silence, holding hands and staring at each other, Dick realizes maybe they didn’t need to talk tonight. Right now, when everything is so fresh and raw and painful, what they needed is this. 

This silent moment of connection.


End file.
